Governor Archive

I visited the school today to carry out some finance tasks but was lucky enough to experience the visit to Kenninghall School by Chapel Road Special School. I visited the Hall where the visit was taking place and spoke to staff from both Kenninghall and Chapel Road. Chapel Road pupils are visiting Kenninghall on 5 occasions and then the year 6 pupils from Kenninghall will visit Chapel Road to take part in their own Jubilee Celebrations which they are working on during the visits to Kenninghall.

As I joined the pupils break time had been called and it was lovely to see Kenninghall pupils taking the hands of the visitors, explaining what was happening and encouraging them to do the right thing. It was clear that the Kenninghall pupils already had an understanding of the individual needs of the visitors and I was told when a child approached me that she ‘just wants to hold your hand all the time – its fine’. Kenninghall pupils showed great responsibility, maturity and understanding.

I then returned to the Hall after the break and was lucky to experience a performance by Kenninghall pupils on their ukuleles. The visitors obviously enjoyed the performance and were then able to have a go on the ukuleles themselves. Talking to staff I was told how it allows Kenninghall pupils to see that we are all the same – although we may have a label, look a bit different or find it difficult to communicate essentially we all have the same needs and there are other ways to communicate and express ourselves. A teacher from Chapel Road explained how she had seen a pupil from her school colour and cut with much more confidence than usual and with much less support than normal and expressed how the experience was benefiting this pupil.

This is an enriching experience for Kenninghall pupils and one that I know they will remember and take forward with them. My daughter took part in a similar visit exchange last year at Kenninghall and she still refers to it. It has allowed her to approach people with disabilities with much more confidence, an open mind and a greater understanding. I am sure the current year 6 pupils will benefit in a similar manner.

Maths – we looked at the curriculm diary and evidence book. The book gave examples of work for each class providing evidence of how work is assessed in a consistent manor across the school. Clear learning objectives are displayed and an assessment as to whether the objective had been met, exceeded or more practice needed also including next steps using common abbreviations and signs.

It was good to see the use of the IPADs within maths teaching and Janine confirmed that they are used across the curriculum by all classes and are a very useful tool. The example seen was of an app ‘show me’ which allows children to explain how they have achieved an answer and then show this to the class via the apple TV. As a governor it is really good to see both the ICT resources being used across the curriculum and also the financial resources which have been invested being well used.

At our meeting in January Janine and I had discussed the lack of intervention tools availbale in Maths. Janine was able to tell me that a visit has been arranged to a local school who are using a maths intervention called ‘catch-up maths’. It is great that this has been arranged and if it is considered to be effective and would benefit pupils at Kenninghall the school I feel that the school should consider purchasing it.

PSHE – The curriculum diary for PSHE had less information within it but clearly showed the various activities that the classes had been carrying out in relation to PSHE. These covered writing about feelings, working with a school in London ( of which there are plans to visit) and work around what makes a community including a tea party which was held for older residents from the village. One class has also been working on a project with pupils from Chapel Road Special School and whilst I was visiting I was lucky to see this for myself and talk with members of staff. It was made clear to me that pupils from both schools benefit from these visits.